Update: I was unfortunately not aware of Shamus Young's severe criticism of Fallout 3 available here to link in the original piece and I regret that. It dovetails rather nicely with what I've written and it's much better executed than my piece. I strongly recommend anyone...

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Addiction's a funny thing. There are people, know-it-all people, who would claim a person has an addiction if they frequently indulge in something they enjoy whether that 'thing' is music, films, jogging, gaming, masturbation, drinking, smoking and so on. But are you really addicted to something if you do it a lot? That seems like a pretty limited definition to me, I walk a lot (and somewhat enjoy it) so does that mean I'm addicted to it? Nah! Girls are nice too, in almost every capacity but I wouldn't say I'm addicted to them either. Real addiction, that isn't biologically driven, starts when the activity becomes a problem. The guy climbing trees to get a glimpse of his hot neighbour isn't just a stalker, he's addicted to peeping on her (or him, I guess). The guy in the pub, the one who is always in the pub, is almost certainly addicted to something, maybe he's addicted to harassing strangers. And that kid in your biology class who wouldn't give up the claim that his uncle was Kurt Cobain is addicted to attention.

So where does gaming come into this? Well I'm not addicted to gaming, if there are no good games out then I don't do much, I might stick in an old favourite for something to wile away the hours but that's if I haven't got something more interesting/important to do (and interesting stuff usually takes priority over important stuff). But when a good game does come out... I've been known to spend a lot of time on whatever console it is I'm using at that point. When MGS1 was released I played the whole thing through in one sitting, when I got FFX I spent nine hours on it before running to pour some eye drops over my crusted eyes and even now when I haven't got as much free time because of stupid reality I can spend up to four or five hours on a really good game (case in point BioShock and Mass Effect). I'm not addicted, seriously... but try and remove that disc from my 360 and you'll be feeling the sharp end of a fork before you manage to hit eject. People do get addicted though, usually those guys who actually forget to eat long enough for them to pass out and die. Sounds a bit stupid to me really but I guess it takes all sorts.

What's the next game to threaten my health? The big one, the fourth instalment of Grand Theft Auto... well I say the fourth instalment, I actually mean the <counts> ninth? But whatever it is it's going to make me forget about my food intake, waste outlet and anything that may lie outside of my room. Don't get me wrong, I won't be starving and s******* myself it's just those things will need to wait a little longer than usual. This is starting to sound like an addiction isn't it? Oh dear.